1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical bandages and more particularly, to an adjustable hip wrap for covering surgical dressings, wounds, and the like.
2. General Background
The medical arts include a vast number of coverings for wounds and the like. Some are mere strips of fabric while others more elaborately incorporate buckles, zippers, straps, etc.
Typical examples of the simpler type of strip bandages are U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,275 issued to C. A. Muller; U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,449 issued to W. J. Ewerwahn; U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,601 issued to J. W. Kirkland; and, U.S. Pat. No. 3,125,093 issued to F. D. Hutchins. Each of these are wrapped around a body part, usually the torso, with the tightness of the wrap holding the bandage in place. Unfortunately, the bandage follows the laws of nature and moves in the direction of least resistance meaning that it may creep or move along the body part. Also, the bandage may rotate or slide around or with respect to the body part if not properly restrained.
To overcome this, such devices as adhesives, belts, straps, buckles, hook and loop closure systems, etc. have been applied to the bandage. Additionally, the bandages or coverings were designed to conform to a specific body part or need. Examples of the latter include U.S. Pat. No. 976,550 issued to R. V. Coddington; U.S. Pat. No. 2,926,665 issued to G. E. Seese; U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,150 issued to David Clark Company Incorporated on the application of B. H. Kaplan et al.; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,946 issued to G. Cremona-Bonato. To make these specific body part bandages or coverings more adaptable to a variety of differently shaped bodies, straps or other adjustable means were incorporated into their design. Unfortunately, however, they do not enjoy the same degree of flexibility and ease of application to the body part as the simple strip bandages have. Another disadvantage of these specific type bandages is that they sometimes are too specific, i.e. the same bandage may not always be used on both the right and left (or front and back) sides of the body. To accomplish this, two separate bandages would be required.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide a surgical wrap or dressing that is specific to a certain body part while also retaining the ease of application enjoyed by simple strip bandages. Another object of this invention is to provide a surgical wrap or dressing that is specific to the hip region of a body while being equally applicable to either hip of the body. A further object of this invention is to provide a single surgical hip wrap that can accommodate the hips of very large persons all the way down to the hips of very small persons. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hip wrap that is easily removed and/or adjusted so that the injury may be quickly accessed or pressure on the injury promptly relieved. These and other objects of this invention will become obvious upon further investigation.